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Ammonite (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "MARGHE'S SUIT was still open at neck and wrist, and the helmet rested in the crook of her left arm..." (more)
Key Phrases: skelter trees, tent sisters, snow mask, Port Central, T'orre Na, Holme Valley (more...)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Ammonite, the 1994 James Tiptree Jr. Award winner, the attempts to colonize the planet Jeep have uncovered a selective virus that kills all men and all but a few women. The remaining women undergo changes that enable them to communicate with one another and the planet itself, and give to birth to healthy, genetically diverse children. Marguerite Angelica Taishan is an anthropologist who realizes this phenomena and makes the decision to give herself up to the planet to uncover its mysteries.

Review

?A knockout . . . Strong, likeable characters, a compelling story, and a very interesting take on gender.?
?URSULA K. LE GUIN


?A POWERFUL STORY OF CONNECTION, ALLEGIANCE, AND OBLIGATION. Read Nicola Griffith?s book?and keep an eye out for her name in the future.?
?VONDA N. MCINTYRE


From the Trade Paperback edition. -- Review

Pays homage to Ursula K. Le Guin Left Hand of Darkness without inviting invidious comparisons. -- The New York Times Book Review, Gerald Jonas
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Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 360 pages
  • Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (December 23, 1992)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345378911
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345378910
  • Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,366,336 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #9 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( G ) > Griffith, Nicola

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Nicola Griffith
Nicola Griffith
Nicola Griffith
Nicola Griffith

Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
MARGHE'S SUIT was still open at neck and wrist, and the helmet rested in the crook of her left arm. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
skelter trees, tent sisters, snow mask, herd bird, ting grass, clay disks, strike the gong
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Port Central, T'orre Na, Holme Valley, Singing Pastures, Sara Hiam, North Haven, Marghe Amun, Letitia Dogias, Captain White Moon, Death Spirit, High Beaches, Pebble Fleet, Marguerite Angelica Taishan, Officer Kahn, Grenchstom's Planet, Hannah Danner, Representative Taishan, Commander Danner, Helen Relman, Janet Eagan, Mouth of the Grave, Trern Swamplands, Winnie Kimura, Ato Teng, Eye of Ocean
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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Simple, scientific, impelling and meaningful., March 11, 1999
Nicola Griffith, in her first novel, Ammonite, makes the claim that change is the death that requires courage. Each character in her story finds that death, the required change, in an individual challenge, and sources the courage from a unique strength. Very real, very human dilemmas placed in the storyteller's rhythm that draws you deeper into her story. Ms. Griffith's science is instructive. She has stayed within the boundaries created by theoretical probabilities, extrapolating the present into the future - weaving scientific explanation and the processes of our human spirit into an impelling story. Her vision for the potential of what our society names "alternative methods" in the healing professions is believable and powerful. A review on the book jacket claims that Ms. Griffith has "a very interesting take on gender." The book is potent in its ability to convey that in our essence we are gender-more as well as gender-less. Environmental circumstances in her story create a female population, but the human questions, conditions, and challenges remain constant. The attitudes and actions of her characters contain qualities of what we currently identify as feminine or masculine. Ms. Griffith translates for the reader the inner balancing of each character's feminine/masculine energies, changing the gender concept into something else. Readers who enjoy a book which takes today into the future, relates science in ways which teach, and characters that explore the depths of human character will find value in this book. It is a book you experience as well as read. Ammonite stays with you after you have finished the last page. At first, you wish it had been longer and given more information. Then you start to appreciate its simplicity and uncluttered-ness. You want to read it again, unhurried now, because you know the stopping point of the story. Ms. Griffith is a viajera. If you wish to know what that is - read the book.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Science fiction has never appealed to me., July 12, 1999
By A Customer
Science fiction has never appealed to me. Perhaps this is because I had always associated it with things like "Star Trek," and people dressed in spandex saying things like, "Android Vortex reporting for duty Sir." Ammonite, by Nicola Griffith is nothing like what I had feared, I would recommend it as a wonderful first venture into reading within the genre of Science Fiction. Science fiction intrinsically allows for stimulating social commentary and Nicola Griffith does so skillfully. While envisioning alternate perspectives on issues of gender, sexuality, reproduction, and most other aspects of society, she also tells a story which utilizes the elements of drama in a most engaging way. The author's use of exposition to both provide the background information needed to follow the story and to slowly guide the reader from that which is known, to the world where the story will play out, is subtle and feels quite effortless. Ammonite takes place in the distant future on the planet GP, nicknamed "Jeep" by those who have traveled there from Earth as part of a corporate mission of the Durallium Company. The company has only one interest in the planet and that is its potential financial yield. There are several conflicts in Ammonite which drive the story forward. One is the internal conflict within the main protagonist, Marghe Taishan. An anthropologist sent by the Durallium Company to GP to test a vaccine, which Company hopes will eliminate a deadly virus which has prevented Company occupation of the planet, Marghe is soon torn between loyalty to the Company and curiosity about the new world she is inhabiting. Concurrently, conflicts between Marghe and the society she encounters, and between the inhabitants and Company are also taking place. The exploration of the planet as well as the societies which exists on it causes an immersion in these alternative societies which Griffith has created and from this immersion comes an appreciation for the simplicity of the people, their customs, their whole way of life and a desire to see it all preserved, and a disappointment that the fantasy ended.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Something for everyone who likes science fiction, January 8, 2000
By A Customer
This is a fantastic blend of lots of different science fiction elements: a quest story, a huge planetary landscape, anthropology, sociology, viruses and galactic political intrigue. It's populated by humans of all descriptions--flawed, complex, with good and bad intentions. It's a beautifully written book about people and how they respond to crisis and to change. I'm recommending it to all my friends and will definitely be looking for her other work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Very poorly written
It is extremely seldom that I stop reading a book because it is so bad. Ammonite is the first in years. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Katherine Elizabeth

3.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional worldbuilding
The author does an outstanding job in the creation and description of planet GP (Jeep). It came to life in this reader's mind, and it was beautiful, wild, and dangerous. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Evan the Dweezil

4.0 out of 5 stars Anthropological science fiction
Ammonite reminds me a lot of Sheri Tepper and Ursula K. Le Guin. It's a tale of Marghe, an anthropologist sent to work on the Company-owned planet Jeep. Read more
Published on August 4, 2007 by Mikko Saari

2.0 out of 5 stars A typical female fantasy
At the end of the book the author wrote a note in explanation of her choice of theme, complaining that heroines were made heroic only by acquiring male attributes and that real... Read more
Published on January 7, 2007 by Mike5566

5.0 out of 5 stars Opens up a new genre
Before this book I never even contemplated the science fiction genre. This book is just amazing. And it's so much more then just a story about lesbians, because there really isn't... Read more
Published on September 24, 2005 by Sister Safety Pin

4.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Mixture of Themes
Ammonite was an interesting blend of various themes, from the Wise Woman traditions to various concepts of hard SF. Read more
Published on January 29, 2005 by Gregory McMahan

1.0 out of 5 stars Lesbian softsell
The whole book seemed to be written for lesbian sci-fi readers. Way too much "women ruling the world" and doing a better job garbage. Read more
Published on January 1, 2000 by Book Beez

3.0 out of 5 stars Lesbian fantasy
I didn't find much interesting in this novel. The characters were interesting, but their motivations were hard to understand. Read more
Published on April 19, 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a GREAT book!
A beautifully written quest story that perfectly combines the internal and external journeys of the characters. Everything is vivd and very, very moving. Read more
Published on January 25, 1999

1.0 out of 5 stars Lesbian phantasy world.
The only reason this book got a prize, is that the category of lesbian SF is very small.The "science" in the book is new-age mumbo-jumbo. Read more
Published on January 6, 1999

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